Essence of a Theme Park
by I'mPrinceHarrysGrl
Summary: Angela, Brian, Rickie, Rayanne, and Jordan are changing. But life can't keep up with them. When two new students (twins) enter the school however, they teach the five that life isn't just about wishing. I BEG you to review!
1. Anxiety

Angela and Rayanne were walking towards Angela's locker, stressing because nothing seemed to be going right that day.  
"What is it with these damn teachers?" Rayanne pounded the locker door next to a boy that was in her homeroom class. He looked at her in a shy, scared sort of way. "Hi, how ya doin'?" Rayanne said distractedly as he hurried off with his books.  
"I know, and a quiz tomorrow....I can't handle this," Angela answered, watching Jordan Catellano walk towards his group of friends. She felt like crying. No one seemed to understand that she felt as if her life was failing.  
"Hey, you okay," Rayanne asked, waving her hand in front of Angela's face.  
"Yeah, yeah..I'm fine," Angela whispered. All she wanted was to go home and go to sleep.   
  
Brian rang Angela's doorbell, hoping that she was in a good mood. He couldn't take her yelling and accusing today. He really needed help this time. Thankfully, it was Angela who opened the door.  
When she saw him, she turned her face away and gave a frustrated sigh, "What could you possibly want today?" she asked, a little more harshly than usual.  
"Don't worry, I won't stay long," he answered, pushing his way into the house. "It's about school tomorrow. We're getting new students, you know."  
Angela put her hand to her forehead.  
"So what? Is it really that...."  
"Yes. It's important. It means that our quiz for tomorrow is cancelled, okay? Just thought I'd remind you."  
Angela lead him to the door and onto the front step.  
"Okay, you reminded me, now good-bye."  
She shut the door.  
Brian kicked the mailbox as he walked back to his house.  
He felt as if this was what was expected of him: his whole life was expected.   
  
Jordan needed change. He needed it more than a week's vacation, or an A in English. He needed it more than understanding, or love, or anything else that he was expected to need. His friends were boring: they laughed, yelled, acted stupid at all the same times. They were failing the same classes, they were attending the same concerts, they were dating the same girls. They were all the same. Jordan needed change.  
He watched Angela walk to her locker every day.  
She was his window of change. 


	2. Syrus and Sabine

Brian watched as the two entered the building.  
A girl and a boy: twins. Look-a-likes, there was no doubt about it. They had their heads up as they walked, smiling if they caught someone's eye, and then blushing out of embarrassment. They were the perfect new-kid victims. But there was something different about their look; something strange about the way their books were held in their arms: loosely, as if it was okay to let them drop. Things happened, was what they're look told him.  
As they walked past, the girl lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye. She smiled and blushed, but he continued to stare. In fact, everyone was staring.  
It wasn't as if the new kids were extremely attractive: in fact, the girl was a bit heavy and the boy's nose a little larger than average. Both of them had blonde curly hair (her's long, his short) that bounced around their shoulders when they strode, and muscular legs: they were athletes. They had blue eyes: piercing blue iris's. You would think they wouldn't look away after catching someone's eye. Something about their countenance was relaxed, different, a fresh breath of air. Brian wanted to talk them: not as student to student, more of a questioning. He put his books in his locker and headed to class.   
  
Rayanne had seen the new kids. Usually she would make fun of them, befriend them, or at least say something to someone else about them. But there was something that made her hesitate this time around. She was afraid to speak out loud. She felt like maybe they could change something she could not. She was afraid to break them up like she did all the other students. They were so different: so much hope rested on them.  
Angela had seen them too, and was impressed.  
"Where do you think they are from?" she asked Rayanne during class, while their teacher introduced them.  
Rayanne shrugged, pretending to look down at a piece of paper.  
"These are our new students, class," the teacher's voice rang out, and all was silent. People felt what Rayanne and Brian had felt. It was nerve-wracking. "Their names are Syrus and Sabine."  
"Which one's the girl?" called out a class jokester.  
Rayanne saw the girl blush and stare around the room with her piercing eyes.  
"Sabine," the girl said surely. Her voice reminded Rayanne of stained glass in a cathedral.  
"And that would mean," the boy smiled, "I am Syrus."  
He sat down in the desk in front of Rayanne, and turned around. His eyes looked into hers.  
"Spelled with a y," he said so the whole class could hear him. He winked at Rayanne and turned around.  
The girl sat down beside him.   
  
Jordan, too, had seen the new kids.  
When they had first walked into the classroom, his eyes had fallen right onto the girl: habit.  
Wow, he had thought, she's beautiful. But as he studied her closer, he realized that, no, she wasn't. Wait.....was she? It was hard to tell. But something kept him and the others looking. He had finally decided that no, she wasn't attractive, and turned his head away to look at the boy. He was tall with an athletic build and dark skin like his sister. They seemed foreign and local all at the same time.  
"I wonder where they're from," he thought. 


	3. Angela's Meeting

"And so, another day worrying about another pop quiz," Angela complained. Her life was taking a turn for the worse. Her mother and father had just had an argument and were blaming on her. Her sister was just as annoying as ever. Brian came over every night, just to talk. He had been trying to complain: to say what he wanted to say, but somehow he never got around to it. There was something in the air that was making everyone crazy. Rayanne was acting strangely: she had stopped going to parties, stopped trying to be a daredevil, stopped living life to the fullest. It seemed that if Rayanne had given up, then all was going to hell.  
  
"Pssst...What's your name," Syrus turned around to where Rayanne was sleeping on her desk, and gave her a slight nudge.  
"Rayanne," she said, perking up. This was the first time one of the twin's had talked since the first day.  
"Nice name," Syrus said. He nudged his sister who was sitting next to him and pointed behind him.  
"Rayanne."  
Sabine nodded and gave her brother a faraway look.  
"We've been noticing something here," she said.  
Rayanne didn't think this was strange. If anyone else had said it, she would have laughed, but somehow she could only agree. There was something here to notice.  
"You are all so..." Syrus tried to add his own piece.  
"Well, never mind that," said Sabine.  
Rayanne was intrigued. What did these newcomers think of her and her friends?  
"Hey," Syrus was talking to her again.  
"Yeah?"  
"You ever been on a roller coaster, before?"  
"Once when I was really little," said Rayanne. She hardly thought the question relevant.  
"There are some south of here, at Boardwalk Beach..ever heard of it?"  
"No," said Rayanne. And she hadn't. In fact, she was pretty sure there wasn't a beach anywhere near here.  
"Well, there are."  
He turned around and started to listen to the teacher again.  
  
Angela was confused. Boardwalk Beach? She had heard Rayanne and the twin's conversation. She had been everywhere in this state, and there were no amusement parks. She felt that she was obligated to say something, to disagree with all they had talked about, but she couldn't. She felt too shy to strike up a conversation with either Syrus or Sabine. Fortunately, thought, fate was on her side that day.  
"Hello." It was Sabine, her bright white teeth locked in a smile behind protruding lips.  
"Hey," Angela said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She took a quick glance to where Jordan was standing with his friends again. Somehow she wanted him to see that she was talking with one of these new students.  
Unfortunately, Sabine caught her gaze.  
Sabine's eyes shined, and her smile grew wider.  
"Is that your love interest?" Angela had to catch herself. Only these new kids would say love interest instead of boyfriend. And only they could get away with it.  
"Well, yeah..." She felt like she wouldn't be able to hide it, even if she did lie.  
"He's handsome. What's his name?"  
"Jordan. Jordan Cattelano," Angela replied. She was smiling shyly now.  
Sabine nodded, and her face suddenly grew serious.  
"Well...you see. You are in my English class, am I right? Of course you are....Anyway, my brother and I are hosting a get-together at our apartment. We live on our own, of course. Always alone. But we wanted to know if you could come. That is, if your parents will let you?" Sabine's eyes glittered at this last statement. It gave Angela the shivers. It was if she knew what her parents were like.  
"Yeah...well....uh, I mean...I'll ask 'em."  
Sabine smiled, and left.  
Angela had forgotten to tell her that there was not one amusement park for miles. 


	4. Freedom

Brian was lost.  
Everything he had done was wrong. Everything he had ever said was disgusting, or disgraceful, or just unethical.  
And now, maybe the world had just gone crazy.  
It was like time had just stopped, and no one was themselves anymore. They had become embarrassed of themselves, become self-conscious. Angela refused to open the door for him anymore. He was still the same person: heartless, like everyone thought.  
But Sabine had still talked to him.  
He had seen her, heard her, but didn't understand a word.  
"A party..at our house, okay?" she had asked, her head tilted sideways, so that her eyes could bore directly through his temples.  
"Yeah, okay. But, like, I have this thing..."  
"With your parents? Don't worry about it. Just come. Syrus will deal with the parent thing."  
"Yeah, ok."  
Brian had just said yes to something. He wasn't sure exactly what.  
Sabine walked away.  
  
And Jordan said yes.  
The male twin had asked him.  
He had forgotten the guy's name  
But he understood that Angela was coming: and that was enough.  
"Any problems with the parentels?" asked Syrus.  
"Pa...what?"  
"Parents, dude. Any problem with the parents?"  
"Nah, I mean, no."  
"All right, see ya there." He gave Jordan a pat on the shoulder and left.  
  
Rayanne was invited.  
But still she didn't know about this.  
Though it was a party, she didn't feel right about going.  
There was something about these people that intimidated and scared her. Yet...there was something that drew her to them. She wanted to be their friend, she wanted to know what they knew. That's what it was....they knew something that no one else in the town did. She decided she was going to go. She wanted to figure it out.  
  
Ricky had been invited. He had never seen these kids before, but instantly he liked Sabine. She hadn't shaken his hand, she hadn't looked at him with a weird stare, she hadn't seen anything different about him. She had just seen him. She had hugged him after inviting him, and winked saying, "I'm sure we'll have a good time."  
Ricky liked her spirited nature.  
  
**_Night of the Party_**  
  
Everyone was quiet. They felt like something needed to be said before any of them could talk. They sat on wine red chairs in the middle of a dark blue room: the soft candle-light lamps placed soft shapes on the walls, making the night almost glitter with magic. It wasn't spooky or domineering. It was only strange.  
Suddenly Ricky leaned over and whispered to Rayanne.  
"They live by themselves...."  
"Yeah, I heard that their parents abandoned them in South America and when they were five they were flown to America by missionaries who rescued them and taught them how to speak Swahili...."  
"Swedish, actually," said Sabine who had just walked into the room. She laughed. "Where do you get those ideas Rayanne? They're wonderful! Don't answer....I already know. It's your inner child. Yeah..that's it."  
"Yeah," said Syrus who was right behind her. "That's it! Inner child...I've figured it out Bean...I've figured it out."  
The two sat down.  
"Some party," said Jordan.  
The others looked at him with a glare.  
"Let me ask you a question, Angela," said Sabine, suddenly turning to her friend. "When was the last time you disobeyed your parents? When was the last time you got in trouble for something you were really proud of? Something that made you feel good? When was the last time you felt good? Have you ever been free before? I haven't felt any freedom since we've moved here."  
Syrus was looking at Angela seriously. So was Jordan.  
Angela put her hair behind her ear, her habit when she was nervous.  
"I dunno...I mean, I guess...."  
Syrus nodded at Sabine.  
Sabine turned to Rayanne and asked the same, then of Ricky, then of Jordan, of Brian....none of them could answer. 


	5. Plans

The whole room was silent. Jordan was the only one who didn't seem to see the significance in the answers to the questions.  
"You are all so...old," said Syrus, breaking the stillness.  
"Not mature old," added Sabine. She didn't mean this as an insult, and no one took it as one. It seemed more of just an observation. "Just old. Like old people who have forgotten how to see."  
"Wait, now," said Angela. "Old people don't just forget to see. Their eyes go bad."  
Sabine gave Syrus a look.  
"No, Angela, they don't....they get old and they forget. You guys have almost forgotten already."  
"That's why we asked about the roller coasters," said Syrus to Rayanne, "Because that's where we're taking you."  
"There are no roller coasters around here," said Angela, remembering what she had meant to tell Sabine earlier. "There never have been, and I'm pretty sure there isn't a beach, either."  
Sabine smiled.  
"Well, I guess you'll just have to go and see for yourself then."  
"What? When in any universe would Angela's parents, like, let her go off around the state with two friends she just met?" asked Brian.  
Syrus laughed.  
"None of you know what freedom is, do you? Rayanne knows a taste of it, maybe. Why is it that parents must know everything? For example, they don't know you are here, yet are you having fun?"  
"No," answered Brian, "I'm not having fun! And, like, my parents are going to kill me when I get home...."  
"Why would they kill you for going to the library?" answered Sabine. "That's where you are right now, isn't it?"  
And suddenly, things in front of Brian began to change. The chairs the others were sitting in became blurry, and the walls began to spin. In just a matter of seconds, he was sitting at a table in the library, accompanied by all of his friends: they were sitting in the same order.  
No one spoke.  
"Let's go," said Angela suddenly, looking at Jordan, "Let's go with them."  
Sabine and Syrus looked at each other.  
"Go where, again?" asked Jordan, who knew things were going to get better....but he still didn't quite understand.  
"To the roller coasters," something in Angela's voice changed. "I've never ridden one before. Let's go."  
"What about your parents?" asked Syrus, with test in his voice.  
"Why would they get angry if I'm spending the night with Rayanne?" asked Angela, smiling.  
Rayanne and Rickie nodded and smiled.  
"Well, I'll be damned if you do something wrong and I don't..." said Rayanne, and Rickie agreed.  
"Besides," he said, "It's not, like, we'll be missing class or anything...."  
Syrus's smile faded.  
"Yeah, well, tomorrow is Friday...."  
"And we do have to leave early..." said Sabine with a frown.  
Angela was confused.  
"Why do we have to leave early?" she asked.  
"So that we allow ourselves plenty of time to drive there," answered Syrus.  
Angela looked around her, apparently wondering why they couldn't be beamed there, like they just had the library.  
"It's a different matter," Sabine answered Angela's questioning looks. "This time, the journey will be part of the adventure."  
Everyone was in, except Brian.  
"I don't know....I have like, a reputation..."  
"I remember you once saying that, like, it was so expected of you to get straight A's and be perfect, that you weren't allowed to be insane. And so, like, it made you crazy," said Angela. "Now's your chance to turn that into insanity."  
Brian looked at Sabine's golden hair.  
"All right, I'm in." 


	6. Following

The next day, everyone headed out for school. Even though they weren't going to class, they were going to meet on the grounds. Everyone had told their parents some lie or another, and no one was worried that they had been suspicious.  
"My parents were so excited, that like, I was actually building a relationship with someone that they, like, told me to stay all weekend," Brian had laughingly told Rickie.  
"I wouldn't go around telling people that," said Syrus coming up behind Brian and smacking him on the back.  
The three boys were congregated at the side of the school: waiting for everyone else to arrive.  
"Where's Sabine?" asked Brian. When Syrus gave him a look he began to ramble on. "I only wanna know just because, like, you know....she's like your twin, right?"  
Syrus laughed.  
"Yeah, she's coming with Angela and Rayanne: just to make sure they don't run into any, um, distractions."  
"Distractions?" Rickie asked.  
"Yeah, like Jordan's stupid friends..."  
"Yeah, so they're picking up Jordan too?"  
"Uh huh."  
That sat there and waited.  
Finally, the school bell rang and students ran up the front stairs, hurrying towards their hopeless classrooms: where they would go through the same ritual they did every day.  
"Going to their hell," Syrus whispered as he broke out a cigarette and lit it.  
"You know those things will give you cancer?" Brian grabbed the cigarette and threw it on the ground, rubbing into the sand with his foot.  
"There are worse things that dying," answered Syrus.  
"As if that wasn't cliche," laughed Rickie.  
Brian and Syrus didn't answer.  
Suddenly there was a honk in the distance.  
"That would be the rest of them," said Syrus.  
Brian and Rickie followed him to where Sabine was sitting behind the wheel: Jordan in the back with Angela and Rayanne at her side. The car was a white convertible: only two more people would fit.  
"How are we all supposed to get in there?" asked Brian, as he watched Angela chatting with Jordan.  
"Syrus, you're driving this thing," said Sabine, scooting over closer to Rayanne. "There is no way I'm going to be responsible on this trip."  
Syrus smiled at his sister and hopped behind the wheel. Rickie joined Angela and Jordan in the back, and all turned to look at Brian.  
"Where am I supposed to fit?" he asked.  
Sabine and Rayanne exchanged glances and smiled.  
"Between us sweetie," teased Rayanne making kissy faces at Brian.  
"There's enough room," said Sabine on a more serious note.  
And suddenly, there was.  
Without any questions Brian joined them.  
"Couldn't possibly leave him behind," said Syrus to his sister as he put the car into gear, "He's the worst of them all."  
He applied his foot to the accelerator, changed gears, and sped away: Rayanne, Angela, and Sabine whooping for him. They were on an adventure and something in the air had changed. The day was warm and sweet, and Angela could tell that even if her parents did find her now, these first seconds with her old and new friends would be worth the punishment. She leaned into the front seat, putting her mouth to Rayannes ear and yelling over the wind, "How am I doing?"  
"Great babe!" Rayanne answered, laughing at her friend.  
There had to be roller coasters in this state, thought Angela.  
No one would take them on this goose-chase, if there wasn't.   
  
As they drove along, they listened to music: the kind that is way too loud to listen to in a melancholy town. They had all forgotten about school: even Brian, who was beginning to enjoy himself. Things were becoming different as they drove farther away: everyone could feel it. Even Jordan.  
This is stupid, he had told himself at first.  
But now he was sure it wasn't.  
He looked at Angela's smile that was covering her face, the wind blowing her hair, and the way she was: finally happy.  
He felt a slight happiness too.  
One that refused to go away.   
The group continued driving into the night, putting up the top of the car when it started to get cold.  
"We'll be there in the morning," said Syrus, who was still driving.  
"Want me to take over?" Jordan asked.  
Syrus shook his head.  
"You wouldn't be able to find the place," said Syrus.  
Sabine had fallen asleep, her head on Brian's shoulder.  
Angela and Rickie were silent in the back as well, dozing off the humid air.  
Rayanne was looking out the window, listening to the music.  
Brian stiff and uncomfortable: but afraid to move lest he disrupt Sabine's sleep.  
In their drowsy state, they failed to realize headlights that had been following them from the school. 


	7. Brian's Dream

Brian was slipping into the state between being asleep and awake. His head was lolling and the image of the gray, flashing road was blurring as Syrus continued the car's forward movements. Brian was conscious he was dreaming—this is how it went:

He, Syrus, and Sabine were on the deck of a ship. A big one. With wooden floors and blue walls, lined with crown molding and wooden carvings. It was obviously an expensive sort of ship. Somehow Brian knew that it was called the Swahili and sure enough, as he looked railing, he saw the name painted in large white swirling letters. The waves pounded the bottom of the boat with a strong swash, making the letters look as if they were blinking navy, white, and then navy again. As Brian came up from the railing he noticed a platform in front of him: a wooden one, almost like a diving plank. Sabine, smiling and giving Brian an intense blue-eyed look stepped up onto the plank and walked to the edge. The water made her face glow with an opaque blue. Syrus soon followed suit.

They gave each other a significant look and then directed their gaze back to Brian. They looked like ghosts among the black sky and water. Suddenly a strange thing happened. Something was coming from them. A mist....No, an image? Brian watched as a hazy shadow came from their very bodies, and swirled into the night air, between him and the plank. The two images twisted together, only the color of shimmering white emitting from the two hazes. Brian opened his mouth and reached his hand out to touch them. When his fingers hit the mist however, it stopped drifting. In seconds, it had taken itself and locked onto Brian's hands, flowing through his fingertips and entering his torso, shooting into his brain and toes and imprinting itself onto his heart. "What was that?" Brian whispered in his dream.  
Sabine and Syrus smiled.  
"There you go," they said, their blue eyes getting eerier as the night became darker.

"There you go what?"

"We gave you some..."

"Some of what?"

"Our inner child."

Brian felt a hard slap on his shoulder.  
"Shut up, man, I was trying to get some sleep over here!" It was Rayanne, her voice sounding piercing after the tranquility of Brian's dream. "Sorry," he answered sheepishly.  
"Yeah, you should be. You were talking like a loony over there." Rayanne leaned her head back to her side of the window closed her eyes.  
She popped them open soon enough.  
"What were ya dreamin' about?" she asked. Rayanne could never resist an instant to be curious. "Uh, nothing. Just, like you know, a nightmare." Rayanne nodded and went back to her window.  
Brian chanced a glance at Sabine on his shoulder.  
Her eyes were closed, but she had a sure smile on her face.  
No, Brian thought to himself, that's impossible.......


	8. Ditching It

"Like, how long has that car been following us?" Brian asked. The car was sticky and wet with the dew from the morning: the windows hadn't been rolled up once during the whole night.

Syrus looked cooly out his rear-view window and smiled.

"The whole way."

"What?!?"

"Don't look so worried. They'll never get to the park."

Syrus reached over and took his sister's wrist in his hand. He shook her slightly and waited for her to get her boundaries.

As soon as Sabine noticed her head on Brian's shoulder, she smiled knowingly. Had she known his dream? Brian was anything but worried about it.

Angela sat up. She had been awake for a couple of hours: watching Rickie as his lips moved in his dreams, his head slung back on the seat of the car, and his eyelids tightly clenched against his cheeks.

"I wonder what Rickie dreams," she thought.

But then she saw Jordan. He was far from sleeping; his hand under his chin in an intelligent fashion, his eyes searched the floor as if for some key clue to this mystery.

She wanted to reach out to him, give him poetry to understand.

But then she remembered.

A boy who can't read, can't understand poetry.

"Damn," she thought. "How restricted we all are."

Jordan knew Angela was watching him.

He understood.

Syrus smiled. The car behind him was none of his concern. Only the people in this one.

"Are we there yet?" Rayanne asked in her sweet, piercing voice. "I've been sleeping long enough for us to have passed millions of amusement parks."

"Sit back and relax, Rayanne," Angela teased, "I thought you'd want to spend this much time in the car...I mean, Syrus _is _sitting right there and all...."

Rayanne shrieked and gave Angela a backwards smack.

"Well at least...." But before Rayanne could retort, Sabine yelled.

"Syrus! Watch out you dumbass! There's a ditch..."

"Shut up, Sabine. And leave the driving to me. I see that ditch. And trust me, it's going to save us."

Time stood still.

"Whatever, Syrus." She smiled, and smacked him playfully.

"Are you all ready?" Syrus asked. "Good."

He floored the accelerator.


	9. Jumping the Ditch

Rayanne knew they were going to die. All of them. And she didn't care a bit.

"What are you doing man?" Jordan yelled, coming out of his comatose state. "We're going to land in that ditch, and your car'll get beat."

Sabine and Syrus gave each other knowing glances.

"I hate it when they do that," Angela whispered to Brian. He blushed.

It is a known fact that in a matter of seconds, anything can change. Your whole life can change. Your view on the world can change.

Angela felt it first. The warm feeling spreading throughout her limbs, her lips covered in crusted salt, pleasantly. The smell of popcorn and the whirl of wind over her ears. She could hear the laughter and the teasing, the crank of engines below her. She realized after a moment that her eyes were closed. She opened them.

"I'm on a rollercoaster, and I think I'm going to be sick," Brian said.

Making sure Angela wasn't looking, Syrus gave Sabine another look.

"He a tough one," Sabine said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, man, take it easy," said Syrus who was sitting beside Brian. "Are you afraid or something?"

"No, not afraid," Brian stuttered, "Nauseous. Yeah, that's it."

They were all on a ride. No one asked how they had gotten there, no one asked where they were. They all just went along with it. Maybe things were changing slightly.

The ride was bright red, with yellow sides and the gritty smell of rust on metal. There were other passengers, tourists even, on the same ride, but they paid no attention to the teenagers.

"You'd think someone would at least _pretend_ to give us the time of day," Rayanne said to Angela, in her smug way.

Angela nodded, but paid no attention to Rayanne. Instead she was looking at Jordan.

And to her complete surprise, she saw he was looking back.

Angela failed to notice the smile that passed between the twin's lips.

Sabine's eyes shone of the deepest blue.

"Start the ride, my good man," Syrus yelled at the coaster manager. Without even the slightest acknowledgment that he saw Syrus, the man pulled the lever and started the ride.

"I...think....I...," Brian was wincing and staggering off of the coaster.

"Yes?" Sabine asked eagerly.

"I think I'm like, okay." Brian answered.

Syrus gave Brian a smack on the back.

"Of course you're okay. There's nothing too it. It's called learning to relax."

"There's more to life than purpose you know," Sabine added.

Brian nodded. He knew.


	10. The Ferris Wheel

When the ride had started, the only thing that Angela could think about was the shine of freedom in Jordan's eyes. He was looking at me, she thought to herself. Rayanne snapped her out of her reverie. 

"Hey man, you okay? We're going on the ferris wheel," Rayanne pushed waved her hand up and down in front of Angela's face.

"Oh yeah, the ferris wheel," Angela responded dreamily. She hardly noticed that just in front of her were the twins.

"Hey Rayanne, go on the wheel with me," Syrus came over and stuck his arm under Rayanne's. He had a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth and a grin across his handsome face.

"Okay," Rayanne looked back at Angela and winked.

"Guess that's you and me then," said Brian to Sabine. He nervously patted his pockets. "Just you- and- me."

"Shut up, Brian," Sabine said, laughing. "Stop being so nervous." She slapped his butt before she stepped into the ferris wheel compartment. Completely startled and maybe a little pleased, Brian followed after her.

Angela looked around and around. There was no one near her. She had hoped that he would next to her, asking her for a ride. Instead, Angela found Rickie.

"Hey, wanna like go with me?" Rickie asked, "I know what you're thinking...but I haven't seen him since the rollarcoaster." Angela stepped on the ferris wheel with Rickie, and stared straight ahead as the ground was suddenly pulled from beneath her feet.

"We're at the top," she said lightly, when the wheel had stopped. "I don't think I like heights so much."

"Me either," Rickie laughed. "So what do you think?"

"Think about what"  
"About those new kids"  
"They are so weird"  
"Yeah"  
"I love them"  
"Yeah."

Angela got off the ferris wheel and saw everyone fixing their hair, smiling, talking amongst themselves. Rayanne was joking with Syrus, her face turned younger, brighter, and more beautiful since they had been at school. Even Brian seemed more relaxed. His hair was ruffed, his cheeks were crimson, and his smile was wide. There wasn't a worry wrinkle in sight.

Suddenly, as Angela descended the exit stairs she saw Jordan's face and long hair amongst her friends. He glanced at her and she saw, to her surprise, that he was carrying a huge teddy bear under his arm. He walked slowly up to her and cleared his throat.

"Here," he said shoving the bear at her, "I won this for you." Angela smiled so bright she thought the whole park could see.  
She failed to notice the laugh of Syrus and the "Hush!" look of Sabine.


	11. Trouble in Paradise

Although Jordan was acting as if nothing had happened at the ferris wheel, Angela couldn't help but feel his eyes searching her every now and again. Her head was spinning, and she had tried to talk to him, but as she knew from past experiences, he wasn't the conversational type. 

"I was, like, so hoping we could stay here forever," she said when she was near him. "Yeah." He ran his fingers through his hair and his glazed eyes focused on something far away.

"So," Angela continued, not wanting to give up, "Are you, like, having a good time"  
"Yeah," Jordan put his hands in his jean pockets and gave Angela a look. He pulled away when he saw her enthusiasm. "A great time."

"So he gave me this, like, huge teddy bear, but he refuses to even have a decent conversation with me. Ugh!" Angela was venting to Rayanne and Sabine, who had gone to get drinks while the boys scoped out the other rides.

Rayanne, who wasn't paying much attention nodded her head. "Oh! I know! We should all get into pairs in the haunted house! I mean, if the ferris wheel was romantic...think about ghosts and severed, bloody heads."  
Angela and Sabine looked at each other. Will we ever understand her? was written all over their faces.

Sabine walked behind the gift shop and rested her back against the wall. Her curls were falling out of her bun and draping down around her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were piercing blue. Scared that Angela might find out that she, Sabine, had suggested to Jordan that he should buy the bear, Sabine had been hiding out for awhile to get her thoughts together. She knew Jordan loved Angela, but man, sometimes that boy was just STUPID.

"Hey cutie, whacha doin back here?" a boy Sabine recognized from school had drifted next to her. "How the hell did you get here?" Sabine asked bluntly, hersharp lookfocused on the boy. He turned away from her, taken aback.

"Looks like you and your brother didn't plan for this, did ya?"

"You're Jordan's friend," Sabine understood now. This immature boy would ruin everything if Jordan saw him. Or if Angela saw him for that matter. They wouldcatch a glimpse of this familiar face andbecome embarressed by their freedom.

"Got through that barrier easy enough." the boy continued,"Just kept driving. I don't really know this place though. I think we've gone through, like, a time warp." Oh god, and Sabine had thought _Jordan _was stupid!

The boymoved closer to Sabine. "You better take a step back." Sabine responded to his movement.

"Or what? You'll run and tell your big brother? Oh no! Help me!" The boy grabbed Sabine's wrists and put his face into hers. "I'll tell you something right now. I _know_ Jordan. And I know he's got his eye on you. Hedoes more than eyeall the girls. He _gets _them all. But this time, I'm gonna beat him to the punch."

With one swift motion, and without averting her eyes, Sabine threw her leg up between the boy's legs. With a groan and a gasp for breath he fell on the ground, his face red with pain. Sabine walked quickly off...looking for Jordan before anyone else found him.


End file.
